Calhoun County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,106. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Port Lavaca. The county is named for John Caldwell Calhoun, the seventh

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

. Calhoun County comprises the Port Lavaca, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Victoria-Port Lavaca, TX Combined Statistical Area.

History

Paleo-Indians Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

Hunter-gatherers A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, especially w ...

, and later

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe from Oklahoma and Texas. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct language, extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Tonkawa ...

, and Karankawa tribes, first inhabitants. * 1685-1690

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and North American fur trade, fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada ...

lands near Powderhorn Lake in Calhoun County.

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

plants its flag on Texas soil, but departs after only five years. * 1689 The future county is explored by Spaniards, including Alonso De León. * 1825 Martín De León of Mexico establishes a ranch near the old La Salle fort. * 1831 Linnville becomes the first Anglo settlement, established by Irish-born merchant, statesman, soldier John J. Linn. * 1840 Comanche Indians loot and sack Linnville. * 1842-1847 Empresario Henri Castro contracts to bring Alsatian immigrants from

, who use Port Lavaca as a holding site before moving on to settle Castroville in Medina County. * 1845 Thousands of German immigrants are stranded at port of disembarkation Indianaola on

Matagorda Bay Matagorda Bay () is a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, east-southeast of San Antonio, south-southwest of Houston, and south-southea ...

. * 1846 Calhoun County is formed from parts of Victoria, Jackson, and Matagorda counties. It is named for then Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee

John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American s ...

. Lavaca was the first county seat. * 1852 Indianola becomes the county seat. The Morgan steamship lines runs regular service from Indianola to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Slave trading peaks at Indianola. * 1854

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

begin to arrive in Indianaola. * 1858 Half Moon Reef Lighthouse is constructed in Matagorda Bay. * 1860 County population is 2,642, including 414 slaves. * 1861 Calhoun County votes 276-18 for

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

from the Union. Contributes volunteer companies to the Confederate cause. Fort Esperanza, on Matagorda Island, is constructed by Confederate forces using slave labor. * 1862 Union gunboats bombard Port Lavaca. * 1875 A

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

heavily damages Indianola. * 1886 A

destroys Indianola and causes much damage to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. * 1892 The

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

community of Olivia is established by

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

. * 1909 Port O’Connor is established. The St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway establishes a terminus at Port O’Connor. * 1920 Port Lavaca builds a seawall to protect itself against hurricanes. * 1931 Lavaca Bay causeway is constructed. * 1934-1935 Oil and natural gas discovered near Port Lavaca. * 1947

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

opens a plant at Point Comfort. * 1952

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...

opens a plant near Seadrift. * 1961 Category 4

Hurricane Carla Hurricane Carla was the most intense tropical cyclone landfall in Texas in the 20th century. The third named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Carla developed from an area of squall, squally weather in the southwestern Caribbean Sea ...

makes landfall between Port Lavaca and Port O’Connor. * 1983 Matagorda Island State Park and Wildlife Management Area is run by the

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitat (ecology), habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state park, state's parks and historical ar ...

under an agreement between the United States Department of the Interior and the state of Texas.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (51%) is water. It borders the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

Adjacent counties

* Jackson County (north) * Matagorda County (east) * (

) (southeast) * Aransas County (southwest) * Refugio County (west) * Victoria County (northwest)

National protected area

* Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 20,106 people, 8,027 households, and 5,502 families residing in the county. As of the 2010 United States census, there were 21,381 people living in the county. 81.5% were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 4.4% Asian, 2.6% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 8.8% of some other race and 2.1% of two or more races. 46.4% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 20,647 people, 7,442 households, and 5,574 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 10,238 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 78.04%

, 2.63%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.49% Native American, 3.27% Asian, 0.07%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 13.19% from other races, and 2.32% from two or more races. 40.92% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 11.4% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 9.4% American and 5.5% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 67.9% spoke English, 29.1% Spanish and 1.2% Chinese as their first language. There were 7,442 households, out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.20% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.10% were non-families. 21.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.20. In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.50% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,849, and the median income for a family was $39,900. Males had a median income of $35,957 versus $19,772 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $17,125. About 12.70% of families and 16.40% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 21.30% of those under age 18 and 11.70% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Education

All of Calhoun County is served by the Calhoun County Independent School District. All of the county is in the service area of Victoria College.Texas Education Code Sec. 130.208. THE VICTORIA COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.
/ref> Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic School, pre-K through grade 8, has also served the county since 1996.

Transportation

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 87 * State Highway 35 * State Highway 185

Airport

Calhoun County Airport, a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

airport, is located in unincorporated Calhoun County northwest of Port Lavaca.

Communities

Cities

* Point Comfort * Port Lavaca (county seat) * Seadrift

Census-designated places

* Alamo Beach * Magnolia Beach * Port O'Connor

Other unincorporated communities

* Long Mott * Olivia * Port Alto * Schicke Point

Ghost towns

* Indianola * Kamey * Sixmile

Notable people

* Augustus Carl Büchel (1813–1864), German-born Confederate

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

who died of wounds received at the

Battle of Pleasant Hill The Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9, 1864, in Louisiana formed part of the Red River Campaign during the American Civil War, when Union Army, Union forces were attempting to occupy the Louisiana state capital, Shreveport, Louisiana, Shrevepo ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

References

External links

Calhoun County government

Calhoun County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

"Calhoun County Profile" from the Texas Association of Counties
{{coord, 28.44, -96.61, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1846 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1846 Hurricane Ike Victoria, Texas metropolitan area